An ongoing and unspoken sense of crisis has driven those working in the performing arts to accept an intolerable range of behaviours as the norm. Emma Jayne Park questions the underlying structures supporting a system that requires endless resilience simply to survive.
Venue operators should be rightly angry that the Government continues to insist that social distancing is the main route to making their auditoriums safe, says Liz Hill.
As we say good riddance to 2020, Liz Hill takes a glass-half-full look at progress in the cultural sector this year, and what the year ahead might hold.
UK Music has published its industry-wide ten-point plan for a diverse music ecosystem. But it’s actions, not words, that will bring about lasting change, says Ammo Talwar.
By cutting bursaries for teacher training, the Department for Education will make a career in teaching an unreachable dream for some musicians, says Roz De Vile.
A DCMS report asserting that ‘the arts can,’ ‘music can,’ and ‘dance can’ improve arts and health includes highly flawed studies that should not be relied upon to guide policy, says Stephen Clift.
If ACE only distributes the Government's support package to the organisations they have a current relationship with, then 80% of the sector will remain vulnerable and large scale venues as well as small will be at risk says Michael Ockwell.
As governments start to draw up plans for supporting the post-virus cultural sector, the voices of those working in it are the most important. Liz Hill introduces a new series of articles.
Regeneration is all very well – but it is only through celebrating its authentic working class culture that the city can discover a beating heart and soul, says Lisa Meyer.
Setting targets helps, but wider strategies are needed to dispel the sense of novelty value that still surrounds female musicians. We need to normalise their presence on stage and behind the scenes, writes Kate Lowes.
Risk versus reward
England’s arts organisations will be asked to make decisions that affect more than people’s livelihoods.